Lina In Love
by D-chan2
Summary: A mysterious prince wants Lina to become his wife... but what about Gourry and what's the catch? Please R/R!
1. Onion Rings

Lina Inverse patted her full stomach none none Normal none none 4 197 2001-05-27T02:29:00Z 2001-10-15T01:50:00Z 3 994 5667 47 11 6959 9.3821 

Lina Inverse patted her full stomach.  "All gone!" she exclaimed as she leaned back in her seat as if exhausted.

Gourry did the same.  "That was some meal."  He turned to Amelia.  "The Seyruune castle chefs sure can cook up a feast."

Amelia nodded.  "Sure can.  Don't you think so, Mr. Zelgadis?"

Zel quickly shook his head in agreement.  "Yes, I do.  Please send my regards to the chef.  I'd love to do so myself, but I have some reading to do before we set off tomorrow and it's getting late."  He picked up his cape from behind his chair, waved, and walked out the dining room door.

"Sure is devoted, isn't he?" inquired Lina as she fiddled with a strand of her long orange-red hair.

"I'd say," Gourry said.  "But we do have a big day ahead of ourselves tomorrow."

Amelia squealed.  "Oh that's right!  I nearly forgot!"  She looked over at Lina.  "Are you nervous?"

Lina shrugged, obviously uncertain.  "A little maybe…"

Gourry patted Lina on the back.  "Don't worry Lina, you'll do fine.  I'll be there to help."

Lina eyed Gourry.  "And that's supposed to relieve me how?"

Gourry pouted.  "Uhh… I don't know…"

Amelia shook her head.  "You'll do fine, Miss Lina.  You too, Mr. Gourry.  As for me, I'm following Mr. Zelgadis's example and am going to sleep."  With that said, she got up and left the dining room as well.

Lina looked around the dining room, allowing herself to get a good feel of the setting she neglected to notice as she scarffed her latest meal.  It was a rather large room, very big in area and was painted in a soft lavender shade.  There were long royal purple curtains hanging on the windows, which were on the east side of the room, falling gracefully at either side, and elegant crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.  The focal point, if one had to be labeled, would have to be the long purple banner with the word "Justice" embroidered on it, at the north wall.  Lina sighed.  Even justice wouldn't help her tomorrow.

Gourry put his hand on Lina's shoulder.  "Tomorrow really has gotten you worked up, huh?"

Lina nodded reluctantly.  "Yeah.  It's just this time, I don't think I can do it."

Gourry nodded, understanding.  "But you said that about last time, too.  And you did it."

Lina put her gloved hands under her chin and closed her eyes.  "Yes, but last time wasn't nearly as challenging as this time."

"I see…"

"It's just," Lina continued.  "There are nearly 2000 entrées to taste and only one day to do them in.  The Seyruune food festival has never been this big before.  I just don' know if I can do it…"

"Lina," Gourry said sympathetically.  "If anyone can do it, it's you."

Lina smiled.  "Thanks Gourry."  She got up and dusted her clothes off.  "I'm going to bed, and I think you should, too."

Gourry got up and offered her his arm.  "Shall I escort you?"

Lina laughed.  "I don't see why not!"

"What's next on the list, Zel?" asked Lina as she tugged him and Gourry behind her.

He pulled his arm out of her hand.  "Let me look, would you?" he asked, slightly annoyed.  "Now let me see… we're second to last on the list!  Ahh 'Tulio's Tavern's famous onion rings'."  He scanned the fair grounds.  "It's over there," he said pointing.

Lina looked in the direction he was pointing.  "I see it!  Ray wing!" she exclaimed as she floated up above the crowd, still holding on to Gourry.

Upon arrival, she narrowed her eyes.  "These don't smell like normal onion rings…"

"Yeah," said Gourry taking a whiff.  "These smell different."

"Of course they do!" shouted a man with a "Tulio" badge on his shirt.  "These are no ordinary onions.  These are Duncalia Onions, picked fresh from the kingdom of Duncalia.  These onions are very special.  You see, they don't cause gas."

Lina's eye widened.  "Really?  Lemme try!"

"Me, too!" yelled Gourry with enthusiasm.

"What's going on?" questioned Zelgadis who had just arrived.

Lina handed him an onion ring.  "These onions… they… don't cause gas… and they're delicious!"

Zel blinked, "Really?"

Tulio nodded.  "Really."

"These really are good!" exclaimed Zel, now swallowing the rings by the hundreds.

Lina and Gourry as well as Tulio stared in amazement.  "Wow…" they said simultaneously.

Then Tulio suddenly pulled down one of the blinds on his stand.  "Sorry kids… you'll have to finish up now.  It's almost closing time."

Lina stepped out from under the awning which was attached to Tulio's stand.  "You're right.  The sun is going down."  She hit Zelgadis on the head.  "We have one more stop to make before closing time and then we have to meet Amelia, so stop with the onions already!"

Zel completely ignored her.  She looked at Gourry.  "Gourry?"

"Sure thing, Lina," he said as he picked Zel up around the waste.  "Let's go, Zel," he said as he began to walk away.

Zel's eye's filled with tears as he outstretched a hand toward the stand.  "Onions!" he screamed.

"Have you seen this girl?"  asked a rather lanky man with long brown hair.

"Yes," replied the woman he was asking.  "But it was a long time ago."

The man's shoulders slumped.  "Where could she be?  Where is Lina Inverse?"  He pulled a rather long note out from inside his forest green pants pockets.  He read it over once more.  It said.  "Deliver this message to my sister or die." and the rest of the note followed it.

"I knew you could do it, Miss Lina!" Amelia exclaimed, jumping up and down at the festival.

Lina smiled proudly.  "Well I owe it all to Zel's great planning and your and Gourry's encouragement," she said, winking at Gourry.

Zel dug his hands into his khaki pant's pockets.  "Well, someone had to do it."

"Yeah… well now that we're done, what are we going to do?" asked Gourry.

"I don't know… hit the road again?" suggested Lina.

The four comrades looked at each other and shrugged.  "So where do you want to go?" asked Amelia.

"Nowhere!" shouted a voice from behind them.  "Wait!"

Everyone quickly turned around to see a man running toward them.  "I have a message for you, Miss Inverse.  It's from your sister."

Lina immediately halted.  "My sister?" she meekly replied.

"Yes," said the man handing her the note.  "I have come all the way from Zefilia to give this to you.  Your sister said it was important."

Lina quickly read over the note, her face, turning whiter and whiter as she read.

"What's it say?" asked Amelia.

Lina's hands dropped to her side, letting the note fall to the ground.  Zel swiftly snatched it up.  "It says…" he began.  "That her sister wants her to return home immediately.  This because of recent developments.  These developments include the…"  Zel went pale as well and dropped the letter.

Amelia was the next to pick up.  But unfortunately for her, she quickly followed the pattern and dropped the letter, resulting in Gourry picking it.  His eyes became wide with fright.  "Someone wants to marry Lina!"


	2. Ravage

"Somebody wants to marry me who doesn't even know me none none Normal none none 4 104 2001-05-28T17:38:00Z 2001-10-08T04:09:00Z 2 943 5380 44 10 6607 9.3821 

"Somebody wants to marry me who doesn't even know me?"  Lina got starry-eyed.  "And he's a prince… hmm…"  Soon she began to see images of a carriage drawn by four horses.  She was inside riding towards a castle where she could see a very attractive man with short brown hair and friendly brown eyes waiting for her.

"Wake up, Lina," Zel said with impatience.  "Why would anyone want to marry you?  Err realistically speaking that is."

"Excuse me, Zel, but who would ever want to get married to a sarcastic chimera!?" she asked, fireball glowing in her hand.

Zelgadis folded his arm.  "I don't want to get married.  By being around you, Lina, I've found that women are nothing but trouble."

Amelia pouted.  "You don't mean that Mr. Zelgadis…"

Gourry looked at his three friends and then to the messenger.  "So uhh, what are we going to do about it?"

Lina buried her face in her hands.  "Well the letter says we have to go visit my sister before we can meet Prince Bill, and three days has already passed:  Two for this guy here to get to Seyruune and one for him to find me.  So expect to be traveling for three days."

The messenger put his hands on his hips.  "Three days for the journey?  But it only took me two to get here, and I can't even use magic."

"Our meals are kind of lengthy," Amelia explained.

"Oh…. Hey, if we are going to be traveling together, you should know my name.  It's Ravage."

Lina looked at Ravage.  "Riiiiiiiiiiight.  Okay lets go back to the castle before we set out tomorrow.  Ravy, you're gonna need to find a place to stay.  So bye!  Ray wing!"  Lina floated up above the ground and grabbed hold of Gourry.  Zel and Amelia quickly followed.  

Upon arrival at the castle, Zel had a few questions to ask Lina, but she quickly went to bed.  And only a fool bothers Lina when she's tired.  _They'll just have to wait for the road…_

"Which way is Zefilia?" asked Gourry as he scratched his head.

"I believe it's that way, numbskull," Lina replied as she pointed to a rather large sign that clearly said "Zefilia that way".

"Hey, where's that Mr. Ravage?" questioned Amelia looking around.

Zel shrugged.  "Maybe he left."

"Noooooo!" shouted a voice from behind them.

Everyone turned to see Ravage running up the dirt path that ran out of Seyruune.  He was still pulling up his pants and his hair was a mess.

"What happened to you?" Zel asked disgustedly.  

"I… uh…," he whimpered between breathes.  "Overslept… but thanks for waiting for me…"

Lina smirked.  "You can't keep my sister waiting… so if you can't keep up… too bad." 

Ravage frowned.  "I see."

The day was filled with lots of walking and eating, which wasn't at all out of the ordinary for the Slayers crew.  When they found the Inn they were to sleep in however, things were definitely a little off.  "I'm not hungry, okay?" Lina stated for about the thousandth time that evening as the five sat around a large wooden table.

"Are you sure, Lina?  This isn't like you…" Gourry said.

"Are you sick, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked.

Lina shrugged.  "I just lost my appetite, ya' know?  I don't understand why."

Gourry scratched his head.  "Then you must be sick."

"No," began Zel.  "It seems to me that Lina is nervous about seeing her sister.  A loss of appetite is completely normal.  Although, I must say that I would never have guessed that such a thing could ever interrupt Lina's eating habits."

"Her sister didn't seem that bad…" Ravage offered softly.

Lina's eyes gleamed red as she formed a fire ball in her hand.  "She's evil I tell you!  EVIL!"

Ravage began to sweet profusely.  "Are you sure… Miss Inverse?"

"FIRE BALL!  I'm sure." she said as she began to walk up to her room.

"Lina, wait!" called Zel as he chased after her.

Lina turned around.  "What is it?" she enquired.

"I need to talk to you," he stated.

"Okay, we can talk in my room."

The two walked up the two fights of stairs that lead to Lina's room.

"What was it that you needed to talk to me about?" she asked upon arrival.

"This Prince Bill character.  Really, why do you think he wants to marry you?  And why are you so willing to go through with this?"

"Firstly, Zel," she began, "I never said that I would marry this freak.  I'm only going to see him cause my sister told me to.  But she never said to marry him.  Hell, he's probably an old pervert looking for some hot babe (that would be me) to romp around half naked in his castle and to protect his fortune…."

"And secondly?"

"I though I explained that in 'firstly'?"

"Yes, but since you said firstly, I could only conclude that there would be a secondly…"

"Whatever.  He's probably just attracted to me.  I have no intention of ever marrying him.  If I want money, I'll get it myself rather than lower myself to such a level."

Zelgadis smiled.  "That's good to hear.  And that sure will make Gourry happy."

Lina raised an eyebrow.  "What do you mean."

Zel laughed as he began to walk out of Lina's room.  "Oh, you'll find out in due time, Lina, trust me.  Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Zel," Lina replied as she walked over to her dresser.  She sighed.  _Just what did he mean?_

Gourry laid his sword on the bed as he began to get undressed.  _I can't believe a prince of all people wants to marry Lina…_

He frowned.  The idea of him and Lina being separated had never occurred to him before._  Well they will just have to accept the fact that I'm her guardian and protector._  Regardless of what anyone said, no one could keep Gourry from Lina.  He would fight a thousand battles to be by her side, he decided.  If marrying a prince is what would make Lina happy, then he'd be happy, but he would never leave her, regardless of what she said (or did) to get him to leave.  It was his sworn duty, and he would never abandon her.

He thought about that again.  His sworn duty.  _Is that really the reason?  Or is it something else?  Oh!  This is sooooo confusing!_

He thought of all the times he and Lina had spent together.  All the monsters they killed, the battles they fought, the darkords they'd slain… He didn't want things to change.  Lina couldn't get married.  She just couldn't!  He wouldn't allow it.  He would not give up Lina to no one.  Never.  Lina was a part of Gourry just as he was a part of her.  Of course, he didn't understand this all in full detail, but he understood the basic concept.  And that would be the fuel to push Gourry into keeping Lina from falling into the arms of this Prince Bill fellow – and he wouldn't lose.  Lina would always stay with him.  Now, and for forever.  _Prince Bill, watch out._


	3. Gigopolous

none none Normal none none 14 117 2001-11-09T18:34:00Z 2001-11-12T01:53:00Z 2 828 4724 39 9 5801 9.3821 

            After a good night's sleep, our heroes soon found themselves readying themselves for another day's travels.  Amelia was full of spunk for she had desperately wanted to reach Zefilia soon.  Even as she was a princess, she had never been given the opportunity to visit there, and she desperately wanted to see the huge vineyards that were rumored to be magnificent.  However, in her morning spunkiness, she accidentally happened to awaken her roommate – probably the only person who hadn't stepped out of bed, Lina.

            "Amelia!  Quiet down, would ya'?" Lina screamed from underneath her blanket, doing her best to hide from the sun that was beginning to peek through the window.

            "I'm sorry, Lina, I'm just getting really excited!  Your country must be beautiful!" she exclaimed full of pep.

            "Well, yeah," Lina began as she sat up in her bed, "but it smells like fruit punch all the time and the men are always drunk."

            Amelia's head sunk.  "Oh… but I still want to see the beautiful country side."

            Lina shrugged.  "Whatever."

            "Okay," said Amelia, "I'm going downstairs to see what they're serving for breakfast.  Try to get up soon, okay, Lina?"

            "I suppose."  Lina watched as Amelia closed the door behind her.  "Ugh…" she sighed as she plopped back down on her bed.  "Peace at last…"

            Unfortunately for her, however, a knocking at her door soon interrupted her peace.  "Amelia, don't tell me you forgot something!" she called.

            There was a slight pause at the door, then a heavy sigh.  "Gourry?" she asked.

            No one answered.  She got up and opened the door, and found herself facing the long empty hall.  She looked up and down it a few times then went back to her room.  "I must have been hearing things…"

            "I'm so stupid," Gourry scolded himself as he ran down the stairs at lightning speed.

            "Where are you going?" a voice asked from behind him.

            Gourry halted.  He knew that voice.  He turned around.  "Xelloss?!"

            Xelloss smiled.  "Tis me, Gourry," he said.  "And like I asked before, where you going in such a hurry?"

            "Downstairs.  I'm hungry," he explained, neither lying nor telling the truth.

            "I see."  Xelloss raised an eyebrow.  "But you seem upset."

            Gourry didn't answer and began to walk down the stairs again, this time more slowly.

            "Oh, Gourry, don't tell me this Prince Bill thing has gotten you all upset.  Gourry, Gourry, Gourry…"

            Gourry turned around once again.  "How do you know about that?!"

            Xelloss shrugged.  "I know a lot of things."  He pulled up his robe on his left arm to look as if he had a watch (he didn't) and sighed.  "Oh, I really must be leaving.  I have an important _engagement_ I must be attending to.  But I trust I'll be seeing you soon.  Goodbye, Gourry!"

            "Wait! Xelloss!" he cried running toward him.

Xelloss smiled one last time and disappeared.

Gourry frowned and finally got to finish walking downstairs to find everyone was there except for Lina.  However, he did manage to crack a smile when he noticed two empty chairs sitting next to each other.

He sat down and noticed everyone was very quiet and was staring at him.  He shifted in his seat and smelled the air around him.  "It wasn't me!  I don't even smell it!"

Gourry never told anyone about Xelloss and for two reasons.  The first was that he didn't want to make Lina upset and the second was that he plain forgot his encounter had even occurred by lunchtime.

By the time Lina had finally woken up and come downstairs, everyone had already finished eating.  Not that it mattered, for she decided to skip another meal and start off on their journey.

 "Where are we headed to next?" asked Zelgadis as he had his afternoon coffee when he had finished eating his latest meal.

Ravage pulled a rather large map out of knapsack.  "Gigopolous," he stated.  "That's also where we're probably going to have to stay the night."

Lina turned pale.  "Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

All eyes turned to her.  "Don't tell me you did something there, of all places?!" Zel scolded.

"Why, what's so bad about Gigopolous?" asked Gourry.

"It's a kingdom, of well, very large people.  Any by that, I mean everyone there is over seven feet tall and very strong," explained Amelia.  "I once had to meet with King –"

"WE CAN'T GO THERE!" yelled Lina.

"Why not?"  Ravage looked at her very annoyed.  "I came through there when I went looking for you!"

"I don't want to talk about it," Lina stated smoothly, resting her head in her folded hands.

"Lina, just tell us what you did!" demanded Zel, beginning to rise out of his chair, with growing impatience.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"YES!" everyone cried. 

Lina let out a deep breathe and began.  "It was a long time ago – before I met any of you, that I happened to stubble into Gigopolous.  It was a nice city full of nice people, however, they had a big problem.  There was a dragon wrecking havoc on it every time they decided to have a festival.  So, generous, little ol' me decided to do them a favor – for a price of course.  I would get rid of the dragon and they would pay me a nice hefty sum.  So, I did all that, and got paid and everything was great.  However, they decided to have a banquet and invited me…"  She paused.

"And?" Zel enquired.

"And somehow the royal families' fine gold silverware managed to find its way into my backpack."

"So now, what?" asked Amelia.  "We can't exactly go there."

Lina shrugged.  "I guess we'll have to go around it."

"We can't do that!  That'll add days to our trip through mountainous territory!" Ravage yelled.

"Do you think they'd even remember Lina?  That was a long time ago," Gourry said

"Maybe," Zel began, "we could disguise Lina."

"Do you think it would work, Mr. Zelgadis?"

Zel narrowed his eyes.  "It's worth a try."


	4. The Disguise

The Disguise

            "Okay, it's one thing to disguise me – but it's another thing to disguise me as a guy!" Lina screamed as Amelia shoved a pale blue shirt over her head.  She was standing in the forest hidden from the guys by only a blanket hung up on a rope on nearby trees.  This didn't make Lina very happy.

            Amelia stepped back a few steps from Lina.  "I think the shirt's a bit too big," she said.  She frowned then stepped outside the "curtain", walking towards her friends.  "Gourry, can we cut your shirt?  It's too big for Lina!"

            "Cut my shirt?!" Gourry exclaimed.  "It's my only spare!"

            "We'll buy you a new one in town…" Amelia offered.

            Gourry sighed.  "Okay… if it'll help Lina…"

            Zel raised an eyebrow.  "You'd better.  If Lina can wear my pants, then she can wear your shirt."

            Gourry nodded.  "Yeah…"  Right then, he wished he were a better arguer.

            Amelia walked back to where Lina was standing and grabbed a burlap bag that was sitting on the ground beside her.  She rummaged around inside it for a few minutes, and then emerged victoriously with a pair of scissors.  Turning back to Lina, she began to trim the shirt.  When she was finished, she stepped back and smiled.  "Now all that's left is the belt and that hat!"

            Lina eyes Amelia suspiciously.  "I don't remember you saying anything about a belt and a hat…"

            Amelia gulped.  "Well, Mr. Zelgadis's pants are a bit big and the hat needs to hide your face…"

            Lina sighed.  "Yeah, it's true that no one can forget such a gorgeous face as my own!"

            "Yeah, well, we should thank Mr. Ravage for the suggestions, and it's his belt and hat that you'll be borrowing."

            Lina grimaced as Amelia handed her the two items.  The thick leather belt was a shade of tan and looked a bit aged, but it was in pretty good condition, so Lina didn't object to taking it.  However, when she saw the hat, she almost died.  "You can't expect me to wear this!" she exclaimed as she held the hat out in front of her in disgust.

            "What's wrong with it, Lina?" asked Amelia, trying to sound surprised at Lina's disapproval, for it truly was an ugly hat.

            "Well, for one thing," Lina began, "it's way too big-"

            "That's so we can cover your face," Amelia said.

            "Yeah?  Well, it's ugly.  Who ever heard of a gray top hot with long purple feathers poking out of it everywhere?"

            "Well…"

            "Hey, Ravy!" Lina called to him.

            Ravage turned from where he was sitting with the other men to look in the direction of Lina.  "Yes?"

            "Where did you get such an ugly hat?"

            Ravage's face turned a deep red.  "You should know that that hat is an expensive designer's hat that I picked up for quite a pretty penny.  I wear it whenever I go to a "fancy function" and always make quite a statement.  You're lucky I'm letting you borrow it."

            "Yeah, well, you guys are trying to disguise me, but that'll never happen with this hat…" Lina commented.

            Zel rolled his eyes, "but it's all we got, so deal with it!"

            "Don't worry, Lina, you'll look fine," Gourry offered softly, cooling Lina's jets a bit.

            Lina sighed, "I suppose, I'll try."

            Unfortunately, trying was the best they could do.

            When they arrived at their destination, an odd looking town with a tall stonewall encircling it.  The gates to the town were somewhat larger than usual.

            "Why are the gates so big Lina?" Gourry questioned looking the opening over.  He soon felt a clenched fist upside his head.  He turned to see Lina pointing passed him to a man leaving the city walls.  The man was very tall, over seven feet high.  He wore a straw farmer's hat and pulled behind him a giant, empty wagon.  Gripping the handles of the wagon tightly he strode passed the group at a steady pace, his huge feet kicking up dust.  Lina stood with her arms crossed giving Gourry a strange look.

            "Gourry…  The people of this village are on average around seven feet tall, that's much taller than a normal person, that's why the gate is so big.  Now do you understand"?  Lina explained trying to sound nice.  Gourry scratched his head.

            "Oh yeah, that makes sense".  He said. 

            "We'd better get moving if we want to get to Zefilia any time soon," said Zelgadis calmly.

            "Right," they all agreed and began walking towards the village.  When they entered they could see a road that led to a marketplace and another path that headed for a group of large one-story houses.  Without hesitation they traveled onward to the marketplace.  The marketplace was full of bustling people.

            "Be sure to keep a low profile Lina".  Gourry warned glancing at all the people shopping and moving along throughout the market square.

            "I know, I know already…  Why do you think I'm in this ridiculous get up?" Lina mumbled to herself.  She continued walking with the rest of the group checking out the various trinkets, jewelry, and of course the variety of food items occasionally pushing past a person or two to get in front of a line so that she could view a stalls wares better.  She could hear several sneezes amongst the crowd.  "What's with the sneezing all of a sudden, I hope I don't get sick".  Lina said quietly.  As she turned to pick up a rather scrumptious looking apple from a nearby stand one of the feathers from her hat brushed the nose of a slightly obese man shopping for food.  The man's nose twitched slightly then he let out a horrid sneeze.  Phlegm from the large man's sneeze landed on Lina's clothing.  "Yuck!"  She yelled.  This grabbed the attention of several bystanders.  Hoping that no one noticed her, she spun around and went about her business.  When she spun around again, however, the long, purple feathers of the top hat caused some others to sneeze in her direction, and unfortunately, one of the sneezes blew the silly hat right off Lina Inverse's head!  When the hat flew off and onto the dusty ground Lina's long, red hair was now visible.  A woman recognized the hair.

            "That hair!  No it couldn't be Lina Inverse?  Who would be stupid enough to come back here after what she did?" the lady said.  Others stood by pondering this.  As Lina fumbled for the hat a man next to her put his hand on her shoulder and whirled her around.

            "It is Lina Inverse!"  He shouted out.


End file.
